


all you've got to do today is hesitate

by harvsgotwhiz



Category: Ripper Street
Genre: AU, M/M, Soulmate Clock AU, drabble thing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-12
Updated: 2017-03-12
Packaged: 2018-10-03 01:22:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10232516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/harvsgotwhiz/pseuds/harvsgotwhiz
Summary: Reid and Jackson find that their clocks have finally come to end... And that they are destined to be soulmates, which Reid is unhappy about.(Note: my RS/BHUK crossover fic will get another chapter, soonish? idk when though, so have this Jackson/Reid ship thing for now because I feel bad about not posting for ages :] )





	

While Edmund was stewing, gripping a glass of whiskey so tightly there was a fear it would break in his hand, Jackson sat opposite him, stroking a thumb against his own glass absentmindedly. Reid, as always, sat upright, wearing a tired, worn, stern face, while Jackson sat back, lazily, scanning the inspector for any sign he might say something. Anything.  
"So," Began the Captain, sniffing hard as he reached into his pocket for his cigarette case and a fraying box of matches. A scratch, followed by a spark of a flame, and Jackson's cigarette started emitting bluey-purple smoke. He puffed at it a few times, then exhaled, placing the case and the matches down on the table before him.  
"Your clock." Murmured Reid, fixating his gaze on the American's forearm. "It appears to have come to it's end." He took a swig of his drink, stamped the glass back down and removed his jacket, throwing it onto the seat beside him. Not that he would have allowed his emotions to show but Reid had found himself in a panic.  
Everyone knew that one's Clock would stop as soon as you came across your soulmate, as would said soulmate's Clock, and the last Edmund had checked his arm, that very morning, it had read that were two hours and thirty minutes left. Before this moment, he had no reason to even glimpse at Jackson's but having seen it now, it made the inspector worry how long it had been at a complete zero.  
He undid his shirt cuff and pulled back the sleeve until every number of his Clock was visible, and found, to his dismay, that his, too, had come to an end. Without even blinking, he forced the sleeve back down again and sat back, clenching his jaw.  
"It would seem that yours has stopped, too, Reid." Jackson mumbled, pulling the cigarette from his teeth and giving the Englishman a weary, if slightly drunken, grin.  
"Why?" The word wasn't meant to be said aloud, but Edmund could do all but stop it from falling out of his mouth the way it did.  
"What?" Blinked Jackson. "Did you expect it to be Emily?"  
Reid glared at him. "No, otherwise mine would have already been at zero. As would my wife's."  
"Then why do you question the whim of fate, Reid?" Teased the American, swigging his drink. "Do you know your wife's number?"  
"Three-hundred and forty days, twenty hours, fifteen minutes." Replied Reid. "At least it had been that, the last time I had seen her forearm."  
"And what was yours?" Asked Jackson, pulling a drag of his cigarette. "The last you had seen your own forearm?"  
"Two hours and thirty minutes." Came the answer. "What was yours?"  
"Two hours and thirty minutes." Sighed the Captain, dropping ash. "That was this morning."  
"As was mine." Frowned the inspector. "Why would fate chose for us to be linked this way? And if we are to be linked, why wait until this moment to allow us to discover it?"  
Jackson shrugged. "I don't know, Reid." He whined. "Comedic effect, perhaps?"  
"Well, I would like it to be known that I am not the least bit amused by her insult of a joke." Sneered Reid.  
"Then it's dramatic effect." Smirked Jackson. "All I know is that she likes to stir the pot a little bit from time to time."  
Edmund shook his head, unable to allow himself the pleasure of processing the information he and the American had come to know. His soulmate could not be this scraggly, unshaven, drunken, rebellious American surgeon. His heart, his soul, his entire being could not belong to this Yankee. It simply couldn't be the truth, no, he must have drunk too much whiskey. He must be seeing things. With a sigh, he checked his arm again and found his theories utterly obliterated. That, in turn, caused him to feel utterly dismayed and completely betrayed.  
"Why are you so disappointed, Reid?" Quizzed Jackson, watching the inspector as he stared hopelessly at his forearm. "Isn't it a relief to know that you've met your soulmate? Some people don't even get a chance and up dying before fate reveals her hand."  
"At this moment?" Reid began, glancing up at the Captain, who answered the question with a shrug and a hesitant nod. "I am unhappy with the decision because I did not think that I would be linked to a foulmouthed former Pinkerton."  
"Well it's not as if you can get a damned appeal, Reid." Muttered Jackson, tapping the ash of cigarette into the ashtray that sat in the middle of the table between them. "That's just how it has to be, alright?"  
"And so what do you intend to do about this.. Arrangement? Hm?" Reid insisted.  
"That depends on you." Replied the American with a frown.  
"Me?" Spat the inspector.  
"Yes, inspector, you." Nodded the Captain, using his cigarette to point at the center of Edmund's chest. "I won't make a move until you decide what you wanna do about our arrangement."  
"And what is it that people do, in our situation?" Asked Reid, curious as to what Jackson would say.  
"Some allow things to proceed naturally, if you catch my meaning, others try experimenting and see where it leads them."  
"Experimenting? How so?" Frowned Reid.  
"Oh, I don't know." Shrugged Jackson. "What goes on in another man's bedroom ain't any business of mine."  
"And you propose that we experiment, do you?" Edmund was careful not to let his anger snipe it's way into his words.  
"I don't see why we shouldn't." Jackson said, putting the cigarette between his teeth again. "I mean, isn't that the whole point?"  
"I do not believe that finding one's soulmate dictates that they should lie together, Jackson." Retorted Reid, swigging the last of his drink and slamming the glass on the table.  
"Christ, lie together?" The American let out a laugh. "Is that what you imagined I meant by experimenting? No, no, I wouldn't go straight into sex,, Reid, that's just madness."  
"And what would you do?" Reid asked, doing up his cuff and shrugging his jacket back on.  
"I would start small, y'know?" Replied Jackson, taking a final drag of his cigarette before stamping it out in the ashtray, wiping the excess ash into his trousers.  
"No, rather unfortunately, I do not know." Snapped the inspector, shaking his head.  
"Then allow me to elaborate." Grinned the captain, getting up out of his chair and wandering over to the empty seat beside Edmund. The inspector froze, silently afraid of the American's next move. What was he planning?  
"Jackson, you needn't have--" His protest was cut short by a kiss. A sudden, soft, bittersweet kiss. A kiss that, for some reason made his breath shudder and his stomach to clench with anticipation. A kiss that sent Reid's mind into a rare state of silence. A kiss that could have damn near killed him and he would feel nothing but giddy happiness and relaxed relief. A kiss that, when they parted, made Reid crave another like it, despite himself.  
"That wasn't all bad now, was it, Reid?" Grinned Jackson, nudging playfully at Reid's nose.  
Edmund cleared his throat and pulled back. "Why did you do that?"  
"I was just elaborating." Came the Captain"s coy reply. "You have to admit, it made you feel something, didn't it?"  
"How would you know?" Muttered Reid, staring Jackson straight in the eyes. Dark green, sparked with life and excitement and anticipation, waiting for Edmund to make the next move.  
"Because I can read it all over your face." There it was again, that smug, self-satisfied grin that would normally rile Reid's temper into a foul storm at this point, but was now causing his stomach to clench again. He shifted, uncomfortable, but refused to break eye contact with the Yank.  
"Did... Did you feel it, also?" He asked, rather hesitantly, hearing his breathing slow into a calm pant and feeling a hand making contact with Jackson's exposed forearm. He, absentmindedly, allowed his fingers to slide gently down to the Yankee's wrist and gripped at it, as if the Captain would suddenly disappear, back to Tenter street, back into the arms of a whore who would make a big show of the way Jackson touched her skin.  
"Yes I did." Smiled Jackson, breaking eye contact to glance down at his wrist. "Would you like for our experimenting to continue, or would you prefer that I leave you to your thoughts?"  
Edmund's grip tightened. "If you left me, all I would allow myself to think of is you."


End file.
